DoF Secretary Purisima addresses Deutsche Bank Roundtable.
Meets with DB Co-CEO Juergen Fitschen
Frankfurt. The Philippine government continued its strong push to aggressively engage EU and German investors, as Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima visited Germany. On 9 September 2013, Deutsche Bank co-CEO Juergen Fitschen welcomed Secretary Purisima to Frankfurt to attend a Deutsche Bank (DB) organized roundtable with major fund and investment managers.
Deutsche Bank officials were impressed by the Philippines’ sustained economic growth and strong macroeconomic fundamentals. Secretary Purisima highlighted to co-CEO Fitschen the strong upside potential of the Philippine economy, particularly the institutionalization of growth through good government and the strength of its people, who he views as ASEAN’s most mobile and adaptable people.
Co-CEO Fitschen noted Deutsche Bank’s solid relationship with the Philippines, particularly in arranging successful bond issuances and through the operations of its Deutsche Knowledge Services (DKS) unit. Mr. Fitschen welcomed the government’s strong focus on good governance and emphasized that German investors are swayed by two main factors: the presence of reliable and efficient institutions and the rule of law. Given his own personal experience, Mr. Fitschen hoped that the Philippines would devote more energy and resources in selling its success story to international investors.
During the investor roundtabls, Secretary Purisima emphasized that the Philippines is in a unique position of having alignment between political leadership, public mandate, and economic conditions. While current growth is consumption driven, Secretary Purisima emphasized that growth could exceed 7 or 8% on a sustained basis as infrastructure, foreign direct investments, export growth, and tourist arrivals pick up pace. The participants expressed particular interest in hearing how the government is addressing bottlenecks in infrastructure and in realizing equitable economic development. Sec. Purisima noted that the government is proactively addressing these issues by steadily increasing the share of infrastructure under the fiscal budget and through the public-private partnership (PPP) program. The PPP program, involving major airport and public transportation projects, has drawn significant local and foreign investor interest. The Philippines recently launched the USD 625 million Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure Fund (PINAI) with Australia’s Macquarie Group and the Netherlands’ APG and is also a shareholder in the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund. The government has also placed education and public health at the top of its agenda, including through the quadrupling of the conditional cash transfer program and efforts at realizing universal healthcare. – END –
